DEFINITIONS.

In this chapter:

(1) "Board" means the Texas Board of Nursing.

(2) "Nurse" means a registered nurse or a vocational nurse licensed under Chapter 301.

(3) "Nursing" has the meaning assigned by Section 301.002.

(4) "Nursing peer review committee" means a committee established under the authority of the governing body of a national, state, or local nursing association, a school of nursing, the nursing staff of a hospital, health science center, nursing home, home health agency, temporary nursing service, or other health care facility, or state agency or political subdivision for the purpose of conducting peer review. The committee includes an employee or agent of the committee, including an assistant, an investigator, an intervenor, an attorney, and any other person who serves the committee in any capacity.

(4-a) "Patient safety committee" means a committee established by an association, school, agency, health care facility, or other organization to address issues relating to patient safety, including:

(A) the entity's medical staff composed of individuals licensed under Subtitle B; or

(B) a medical committee under Subchapter D, Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code.

(5) "Peer review" means the evaluation of nursing services, the qualifications of a nurse, the quality of patient care rendered by a nurse, the merits of a complaint concerning a nurse or nursing care, and a determination or recommendation regarding a complaint. The term includes:

(A) the evaluation of the accuracy of a nursing assessment and observation and the appropriateness and quality of the care rendered by a nurse;

(B) a report made to a nursing peer review committee concerning an activity under the committee's review authority;

(C) a report made by a nursing peer review committee to another committee or to the board as permitted or required by law;

(D) implementation of a duty of a nursing peer review committee by a member, an agent, or an employee of the committee; and

(E) the provision of information, advice, and assistance to nurses and other persons relating to:

(i) the rights and obligations of and protections for nurses who raise care concerns or report under Chapter 301 or other state or federal law;

(ii) the rights and obligations of and protections for nurses who request nursing peer review under this chapter;

(iii) nursing practice and patient care concerns; and

(iv) the resolution of workplace and practice questions relating to nursing and patient care.